Image taken from plaintiffs' website, which says the calf pictured sustained a broken leg but the Tnuva employee continued to shock it to get it to move.Photo Credit: tnuvacruelty.co.il

Jerusalem District Court on Monday will hear arguments over the validity of a consumer class action suit against Tnuva Central Cooperative for the Marketing of Agricultural Produce in Israel Ltd., based on the claim that Tnuva misled consumers regarding the humane treatment of animals in its Beit She’an beef slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant, where its Adom Adom (“very red”) top quality brand is produced.

After a December 6, 2012 expose on Israeli TV consumer advocacy program “Colbotech” revealed some shocking details of the way animals are being treated in the Beit She’an slaughterhouse, a group of consumers, headed by a Haredi woman named Ruth Kolian, is looking to sue Tnuva for consumer anguish.

The issue at hand is whether the fact that the animals had undergone inhumane treatment in itself justifies a claim for monetary compensation for the plaintiffs, and whether it is sufficiently broad to justify a class action suit.

Tnuva, for its part, will be arguing that the very fact that the plaintiffs are essentially organized and represented by an organization called Anonymous for Animal Rights, which exposed the terrible violations at the Beit She’an plant in an effort to get it to close down, disqualifies them from adopting the stance of a cheated consumer.

Here are just some of the appalling conditions the Colbotech show exposed, the list is very long:

Calves were beaten and shocked repeatedly to urge them to march to slaughter.

Calves who had difficulty walking were shocked dozens of times in a row, in different parts of the body including the head and testicles. Those who still did not manage to walk were dragged on the floor by forklifts (the law in such cases says they should be killed on the spot).

Lambs were dragged on the ground by workers holding them by one leg (one employee was documented hauling two lambs at the same time).

Lambs were beaten repeatedly on their heads and bodies with a pipe, in order to encourage them to stand or walk, sometimes without any apparent reason.

Workers were documented stepping on lambs, lying down on them or riding them, throwing them in the air and catching them by the lambs’ mouths.

Calves were kept hanging upside down before slaughter for extended periods of time. An employee told an undercover investigator: “Today a live calf released itself, because of a worker’s blunder. It freed itself [from a conveyer belt to which it was attached hanging upside down by one leg] after it had already been butchered, it came to us still alive, it started to riot, nearly killed us. We fled. Finally they overcame it, with electric shockers. They beat it up until it calmed down ”

In many cases this Tnuva slaughterhouse’s meat was disqualified as traif because of bone fractures and other issues. The meat was marketed non-Jewish consumers.

It is interesting to note that while the plaintiffs never make the claim that it’s the halachic shechitah which is to blame for the terrible images the TV audience had viewed last winter—they blame Tnuva’s mismanagement—it is the corporation which, in effect, is making the anti shechitah case, suggesting it is impossible to slaughter an animal humanely.

The defense also provided a friend of the court note from Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Machpud, head of the Badatz kashrut system, who argues in very strong language against unnecessary cruelty to animals, stating that such action would entail the removal of the kosher certification.

Anonymous for Animal Rights has recruited potential plaintiffs for the district court case by defining them as “any person who has purchased … over the seven year period prior to the filing of this appeal, meat products produced by the brand ‘Adom Adom,’ and who, because of watching the investigation on Colbotech … has suffered emotional anguish and damage to their private autonomy.”

The suit is for 200 million Shekel (roughly $55 million).

The defense will argue that the law in Israel does not award damages to a person who suffered anguish from watching another person’s suffering (parents and their children, for example). How much less entitled are the plaintiffs, who were only affected by watching animals suffer.

But, of course, as Yossi Wolfson, an attorney for the plaintiffs, noted, the human-suffering is in relation to a third person, while here the consumer experienced the anguish directly.

About the Author:Yori Yanover has been a working journalist since age 17, before he enlisted and worked for Ba'Machane Nachal. Since then he has worked for Israel Shelanu, the US supplement of Yedioth, JCN18.com, USAJewish.com, Lubavitch News Service, Arutz 7 (as DJ on the high seas), and the Grand Street News. He has published Dancing and Crying, a colorful and intimate portrait of the last two years in the life of the late Lubavitch Rebbe, (in Hebrew), and
two fun books in English: The Cabalist's Daughter: A Novel of Practical Messianic Redemption, and How Would God REALLY Vote.

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29 Responses to “Israeli Company Sued over Cruelty to Kosher Slaughtered Animals”

The Hebrew Scriptures in Proverbs 12:10 state the following regarding the treatment of domestic animals: "The righteous one is caring for the soul of his domestic animal, but the mercies of the wicked one are cruel."

Kosher killing at its best is a contradiction in terms. One may as well demand that Jihadists kill us humanely and after an appropriate brocha. The only killing of people or animals should be mercy killing or self-defence.

what outrages me is the emphasis on the consumer's "anguish" with no mention here of how the animals will be "compensated" by forcing the company to reform their workers treatment of these gentle, innocent beasts!

I have no respect or regard for a rabbi or kosher certification organization that exclusively focuses in shechta and not how the animal was treated prior to the moment of death. Or to put it another way, I stopped eating all red meat years ago!

"The defense also provided a friend of the court note from Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Machpud, head of the Badatz kashrut system, who argues in very strong language against unnecessary cruelty to animals, stating that such action would entail the removal of the kosher certification."

There is NO excuse for this! There are plenty of conscientious, qualified shochtim looking for work. My husband is a shochet, and we would make Aliyah tomorrow if he could find a job in a plant that was humane and ethical.

well, I'll not buy any meat until I'm sure it's not been slaughtered by Tuvna. How insanely barbaric can one be? If need be, one can live very well on a vegetarian/halavi diet until the coming of the Mashiach.

I have been a vegetarian for maybe 30 years, as I cannot stand the idea of killing an anilaml so that w can "enjoy' it;s killing.

I agree with this lady that s laughterhouse should be shut down, and I hope that regular inslections are being made at avery slaughterhouse.

Those who are so cruel to those poor animals should be jailed.
I wonder how many chicken eaters, have any idea of the extreme cruelty in the slaughter of chickens.
Even if I was not a vegetarian, have seen a video of the cruely these birds suffer, I would stop eating poultry.

I used to eat Kosher meat thinking it was "humanely slaughtered". Now I know that humane slaughter of any kind is an oxymoron, and these people have blood on their hands and souls. Kosher, cage free, free range, all euphemisms for suffering and death. Hashem must be so disapoointed.

As president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA), I hope that the admission by Tnuva that, “slaughtering by its very nature causes the animals great suffering," and their implied admission that meat production does not conform to people's inherent concern for animal welfare will lead to a discussion of the many moral issues related to animal-based diets. In addition to the horrible treatment of animals on factory farms, the production and consumption of meat and other animal products contribute significantly to many diseases and to climate change and other environmental threats and is very wasteful of grain, water and energy.

For more information on Jewish teachings on vegetarianism, please visit the JVNA website (www.JewishVeg.com).

I am so glad that finally a stand has been taken for these animals, for me personally punishment for abuse to animals or people can never be strong enough but this is a huge step in showing that animal cruelty in any situation or place is not acceptable and will not be tolerated – anywhere! Makes one wonder what these people are like with human animals, as the link between domestic violence and animal abuse is connected, it is one and the same. People with this kind of aggression and abuse issues show no discrimination between one or the other!

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